Zombie time starting soon..MUAHAHAHAHA!!

Well...I guess there really is no need for me to apologize for letting so much time slip by yet AGAIN between postings. I think everyone has figured out by now that the time in Regiville passes by a tad bit different than else where...hehehe!!

I have been working on a group of my traditional lil mummy candy containers for the Chazman's classmates for next month. (Halloween is only 34 days away..WOOT WOOT) If you are new to visiting under the old Southern ooak tree then click HERE to see a "HOW TO" on making some mummies of your own.  As well as working on these lil guys I am also working on my Tooth Faery helpers for the Angel program...as well as ribbon barrettes and pins. Busy, Busy, BUSY I am!!!  I promise some WIP photos of these projects soon. I also have a few more witches planned for my 2013 Witch series that I needed to get started on too. One of my sweet friends and ooaks collectors stopped by yesterday and adopted Bella, the dragonfly witch ooaks. I was sooo excited!! I so love making my ooaks but really love when others love them too.

I have to put my muse aside for a few days as I am starting one of two deep cleans that will take me through Thursday...I think...probably...hopefully before then. (I clean beach houses and condos...so love my job) I'm sure that by the time I finish with these I am going to feel like part of the Zombie apocalypse...MUHAHAHA

Until next time..........munch, munch ummm I mean HUGS,
Regi

Potion bottles everywhere!!

Whooo Whoooo Whooo are youuuuu? Me? I'm a night owl....hehe...or at least last night I was. I just could NOT sleep. I think I was too tired to sleep if that makes any sense at all. I have been so busy getting everything ready for our yard sale this weekend that I'm past "POOPED".  Now that's not always a bad thing when it comes to me because that's when my muse does most of her whisperings. Hmmmm...come to think about it I wonder now if that happens because I'm too tired or if she is making me too tired. Either way...it works out good for my creative side.

I'm going to put some of my jewelry pieces in the yard sale. They probably won't sell but I can at least try and perhaps get some exposure of my art. Last night (or *ahem* early this morning) I sat up making some of my beach themed necklaces and some potion bottle necklaces. HEY...the Halloween muse is flying rampant around here. ^_^

I made two of these cute 18" silver chained (with a 3" adaptor) with a Tibetan silver fish charm, glass beads and beach sand filled vials. (sand from Orange Beach this time) I also put two shiny lil shells inside the vial.

I also made two of my turtle necklaces using 18" bronze chains with 3" adaptors, glass vial filled with Orange Beach sand and two tiny lil shells along with one of my turquoise stone turtle beads and two Swarovski crystals.

I only made one of each of the potion bottle necklaces. They are all on 18" silver chains with 3" adaptors to make them a longer length if desired. Each also has it's own magic wand. (made from clay and washed with acrylic paints and adorned with silver wire)

It's hard to see the tiny labels on the glass vials but you can see them in person....honest!! This one is holding "Unicorn Horn". Well of course it's not really a unicorn's horn but tiny little shells that look like they could be from a unicorn. I mean....have you ever been able to capture one yourself. :P  The topper for the bottle I used a small Swarovski crystal, a faux diamond spacer and a glitter bead. The vial and wand are hanging from a Tibetan charm holder.

This is the "Mummy Dust" potion. Noooo, I did not go and dig up any mummies to get this...geez!!!! hehe  It's filled with MICA powder and looks so shiny and DUSTY!! For the vial topper I used a tiny glass bead, a black glass bead and a jasper natural stone bead.

"Faerie Dust"....everyone needs faerie dust, ri iight?? The glass vial is filled with green glitter and on the topper I used a small Swarovski crystal, a faux diamond spacer and a large Swarovski crystal.

This little vial is filled with "Dragon's Breath" and ya better believe I had a VERY hard time chasing that dragon just waiting for him to cough so I could capture it. OMGOSH...my imagination is running WILD!!
On the topper I used a tiny cat's eye bead, a round rhyolite natural stone bead and another cat's eye bead.

Now hopefully I will have a jewelry fanatic come shopping tomorrow and just have to have ALL of these. I would be happy with several folks buying at least one though to be honest. If you live in my area, please come by and see what treasures are awaiting you. I'm sure you can find one or two things you just can't live without. ^_^

Until next time.......Hugs,
Regi

Newest Lil witch....Tabitha

It's so hard finding a quiet spot to just sit and read. I mean, every good witch has to have time to learn her spells and it sure can't be done with a bunch of jibbering, jabbering adolescents around. Tabitha just happens to be one of those adolescents but one that is wise beyond her years. She loves to study and learn new spells and she finally found a nice quiet place up in the attic to do just that. All she has to do is use her wand, say her incantation "Let light rise out of darkness" and "POOF" her skellieabra is all aglow.

Tabitha is the newest lil witch in my 2013 Halloween witch series. She has a strong wire armature that was wrapped in wool yarn. Her face, torso, hands, feet and boots were hand sculpted using clay. (No molds are ever used in my character sculpts) Her face, eyes and boots were hand painted using acrylic paints. Her bustier and boots were washed with acrylic paints to give it that vintage look. Her hair is dyed wool yarn and is curled to look like dreadlocks. (All the fashionable witches are wearing their hair like that this year. ^_^)
Her costume was hand sewn using some of my vintage fabrics and tulle. Her witch's hat was made from felt and adorned with some of the tulle and fabric same as her dress. Tabitha sits on a wooden base that was painted black and a piece of tulle with felt pumpkins attached as the rug. Her skellieabra, wand and books were all handmade from clay as well. She sits right at 6 inches from the bottom of her base to the tip of her hat.

I enjoy designing and making my little whimsical characters. I always show you a few WIP photos as a tease when I'm working on one and thought I would show you a few more as Tabitha started to come to life.

Tabitha can be found in my Etsy shop and I promise she will make a wonderful new addition to your home. She has already promised me to be a very good lil witch!!

My muse has already started whispering about more ooaks to add to this series but I told her she just had to shhhhhhush for now. I'm going to be spending the rest of the week getting everything cleaned, organized and set up for our yard sale this weekend. WOW....have we ever collected a lot of junk ummmm I mean treasures..hehe!! I may make a few necklaces after dinnertime for the next few nights (I just have to stay busy busy ya know) some of my beach sand ones and I"m thinking about making a few magic wand and potion bottle ones too. What do YOU think?

Until next time........Hugs,
Regi

It's Tuesday already???

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. I know for us it was soooo nice to see the sun shining down again and for the whole weekend. I didn't even complain about the heat because I just loved that there wasn't any rain. ^_^  Saturday morning we went treasure hunting and came home without any loot. Oh well, can't find goodies all the time and besides...we didn't really have the money but it's FUN to go and look. Saturday afternoon was a lazy one...the Chazman played his games or watched movies...the hubbikins watched football and I....well...I took a long horizontal pause. One that apparently was much needed as it lasted for about 3 hours. Sunday afternoon we tackled the barn. OMGOSH...a job I have been dreading something fierce I tell ya. We need to have a yard sale this weekend and that meant going through all my "just gotta keep, can't EVER throw it away" items in about 8 different boxes. Talk about the heat...WHEW..it was hot Hot HOT!!! I found so many things I had totally forgotten I even had. Ya'll would be proud though....I put most (key word being MOST) of the stuff in the "TO SELL" pile for this weekend. I still have to get back out there tomorrow and start tagging things and sweeping and setting up. Wish us luck!!!

After a very refreshing and much needed shower Sunday afternoon, I sat down and did some sculpting. I sculpted and squished....sculpted and squished....sculpted and....Oh I think ya get the idea. If not then I would be retyping those three words about 15 more times. Argg!! Have YOU ever had one of those days that no matter how hard you try your characters just DO NOT want to cooperate? Finally and I do mean FINALLY, I got the face I wanted. I finished sculpting her yesterday and got her baked last night. Now I still have a good bit left to do but at least I have a little witch to work on.

Now keep in mind these are WIP photos. Tabitha's bustier and boots won't stay white. I will wash them down with some black acrylic paint. She will also be wrapped in her wool underclothing and hopefully dressed by tonight. (fingers crossed)

Remember how I talked about us "having" to have a yard sell this weekend...well......to help bring in some extra money I'm making YOU an offer and one I hope you can't refuse..hehe. For anyone that purchases one of my clay characters this week, you can pick out one of my jewelry pieces for free. A way to say "Thank you" for  helping me out when I needed the extra help.  I'm not one to complain and I don't like even posting this part but due to the fact that we do not have good prescription coverage and diabetes is not a cheap disease I can't get my meds refilled this month. Click HERE to see what's available in my shoppe and remember I hope to be adding a few new pieces this week as well and THANK YOU for taking the time to even look.

Until next time.......HUGS,
Regi

Double...Double..Mix a batch!!!

Bella is so busy collecting her unique ingredients for her special potions. Not every lil witch has the ability to mix some of the ones that she does much less be able to find that "special" ingredient that makes it work so well. Her great grandmahmah was one of the special mixers as well so she learned from the best and even inherited her ancient scrolls, spellbooks, wand and her faithful old spell table. The spell table was grown by her grandmahmah with love and care and is attached directly to her most powerful spellbook. The wand was carved from the same tree....an Apple Wood tree....the tree of love. Since this ancient being (the tree) is one with Bella, all of her spells are spun with love directly from her heart.

Some of Bella's spells use very unique ingredients as I have already mentioned. Take her spell that will give you luscious, long, flowing locks that never need to be curled and always look amazing...she uses a pinch of "Mermaid Hair". The mermaids freely give her a lock or two every 100 years so that she can make this special potion. If you are wanting to have a bond that is true to that one special someone in your life, Bella will make you a potion using her Unicorn Horn. She loves to ride through the forest, holding tightly to the horse's mane and feel the wind blowing her dreadlocks back and away from her face. Before you ask...no unicorns are ever harmed in collecting their horns. Every 50 years they shed the old horn for a newer and more majestic one to take its place. Perhaps you need some extra strength and healing to mend a broken heart. Bella uses her Mummy Dust for this special potion. The ancient ones were so careful in preparing their dead that they actually are immortal but they do need to have their wrappings changed every 500 years or so and Bella does that for them. In return they let her have the old wrappings that supply...YES YES...the dust.
Bella's spells do come from the heart but that doesn't mean they are all warm and fuzzy. If you have someone that is being bullied and need them protected then a potion from Dragon's Breath is what you need. Bella has to be very careful when collecting this one as she wouldn't want to scare the sleeping dragon. You see, she collects his breath from his snores and he is none the wiser.

Outside of Bella's cottage in the forest lives a tribe of faeries. Protectors of the woods and all the small creatures that dwell there. One day a large dragonfly had been injured and even with all of Bella's knowledge and love, she could not save the lil creature. The faeries saw that she tried so hard and was so sad that it broke even their tough hearts. The queen of the fae hovered over to Bella with two gifts....the dragonflies wings and a bottle of faerie dust. Bella looked surprised at the gifts and asked the queen what she was suppose to do with them. She didn't have any spells that called for either. The queen said that because of Bella's strong bond with the Apple Wood, the forest and all that live within its boundaries that they wanted to gift her with the ability to fly. The fae queen spoke a magical enchantment and the wings suddenly appeared on Bella's back. The faerie dust was for Bella to use every time she wanted to take flight and soar with all the creatures of the air. The faeries all sang a song that told of tales that every good deed will be returned times two to those that gift others with love, kindness and a good deed done.

Meet Bella!! She is one of my original clay sculpts with a strong wire armature underneath that has been wrapped in a strong wool yarn to serve as her underclothing. She stands at a tad bit over 9 1/2 inches tall from the bottom of her wooden base to the top of her dreadlocks. Her face, upper torso, hands, feet and boots were all hand sculpted without the use of any molds. Her eyes are hand painted using acrylic paints. Her boots and bustier were washed with black acrylic paints to give them a worn, old look. Her nails are painted black and sealed to give them that just polished look. Her wings are natural, real dragonfly wings that have been sealed and have a touch of faerie dust glitter added to them. Her dreadlocks were made from wool yarn. Her collar and sleeves were made from a vintage fabric taken from a old "simple little black dress". Her skirt was made from a vintage piece of hand embroidered fabric and her underskirt made from orange tulle. Bella is wearing a necklace made from two Swarovski crystals and a glass bead.

All of Bella's potion/ingredient vials were handmade by me. The unicorn horns are made from twisted clay and then detailed using acrylic paints. The mermaid hair is actually doll  hair, the dragon's breath is pulled cotton and the mummy's dust is sand from our beaches here in Gulf Shores. Her bottle of faerie dust she is holding is pretty pretty shiny shiny green glitter. Just love having an overactive imagination...hehe!!

Bella's witch hat was made from black felt, orange tulle, orange ribbon and a pretty little star button. It is permanently attached to the hat stand. Look closely and you can see where the old tree is growing out of the spellbook.

Side view so that you can see the beautiful dragonfly wings. (I so did not harm a dragonfly to get these...if you don't know already about how I obtained this treasure from mother nature then please click HERE)
I have used real wings in my sculpts before and they will hold up for many, many years since they are sealed. Just try and keep your fingers off as the oil from your hands could harm them. I know, I know..it's hard not to touch sometimes but JUST DO IT!! hehe

A close up of the back of the Apple Wood tree....see the little bookworm that helps keep the spellbooks in order? He also helps Bella find the spells, as there are so many!! The two little items leaning against the tree are some of her grandmahmah's ancient scrolls. (made from clay and that have a vellum paper glued on top to give it a real scroll look.)

Bella is available for adoption and can be found in my Etsy shop. She is a true one of a kind sculpt from my witch series. I would like to say that I will not be held responsible for any spells she may partake in while living with YOU!!!

Until next time.........Hugs,
Regi

Hey...what's that up in the sky?

Ohhhhh...we are so blessed this morning to have a cool 74 temp with a light breeze and the sun shining down BRIGHTLY. (I had almost forgotten what it felt like..hehe) It seems that others were enjoying our beautiful weather this morning as well. On the way to take the Chazman to school we looked up in the sky and saw our local aeronaut, Tommy Rachel, flying around in his aerostat....better known as a hot air balloon. It was the one called "Blue Angel" and it is a real beauty. There is just something about looking up into a bright blue sky and seeing one lone balloon floating along. It definitely gave the Chazman and I a smile for the day!!!

I have plans to finish Bella today. I did get her painted yesterday as well as wrapped in her under clothing. Her fabric for her costume and hat were all picked out too. It always takes me some time to get the painting done as I like to let each section dry completely before starting onto the next especially when I am washing the paints down to give them an aged look. (like with her boots and bustier.) I also used real thread for her boot laces and bustier. That takes time and patience. Lots and lots of patience. I think I get more glue on me than I do the sculpt...HAHA!!

I love making the costumes for my ooaks and getting to use some of my vintage fabrics. Her skirt is going to be the piece with the pretty embroidery and her petticoat the orange tulle. I'm going to make her some puff off the shoulder sleeves with the shiny black fabric. Of course her witch's hat will be made from felt (with shiny glitter flakes) and some of the orange tulle, ribbon and the black star button.

I think Bella is a pretty lil witch and something I haven't posted any pics of yet are her wings. Yes...she is going to have wings since she is one of my batty witches. The wings are the real dragonfly wings I found a few weeks ago. I sealed them and added a bit of green glitter faerie dust to them.

Here'e a close up of the potion/ingredient bottle Bella will be holding. She keeps this one just for herself so that she can sprinkle a bit on her wings when she needs to take flight. I mean, sometimes, a girl just doesn't want to carry a broom around.

Until next time........Hugs,
Regi

It's HUMP day....YEAH!!! (love that commercial)

Walked out the front door this morning and it (DRUM ROLL) actually felt a bit cooler...a tad bit like fall. Just a tad bit though and I'm sure it won't feel that way for long today BUT at least it did for a short time. HEY....I'll take what I can get. I'm very easy to please when it comes to Mother Nature. (like I really have a choice)

I hope that everyone had a great LONG weekend and did something FUN or at least took the time and got in a few probably very needed horizontal pauses. (that's naps people..hehe) We had a good weekend. The Chazman had his best bud over to spend the night on Saturday. We watched the ALABAMA game..well...WE watched until halftime and then the hubbikins left to go to the local pub to finish watching it. That was alright though because I switched over and watched some of the AUBURN game but shhhh don't tell on me. I also got some work done on some of my projects.

Bella's clay parts got finished and baked. My ooaks look like lil aliens at this stage, or at least the Chazman thinks so..HA!!! I will start painting her this morning and hopefully get her wrapped up in her yarn underclothing. Fingers crossed that I can also work on her dress and hat this afternoon. Love this part of making new pieces.

Noooo....this is not nearly complete. Remember it's just a WIP at this point. I did get the wire armature made for the witch and am really happy with how this stacks up. BAHAHAHA....get it....stacked up...she is sitting on top of a stack of books. OK OK...ya'll know my quirky sense of humor and I know ya'll got it.

I  got some work done on the Tooth Faerie helpers too. Since I'm sewing them by hand, I have been taking them with me when I go to pick up the Chazman from school. (to get close to the front of the line I have to leave about 30-40 minutes early and I can't stand just sitting) I finished the little monkey on Friday and was able to get him stuffed and put together this weekend. I started on the dragon yesterday and hopefully will have him all sewed up by Friday. I was going to wait until I had all of the ones I wanted to make all sewn before I started painting but I think I might just go ahead and get these painted. I mean they are just sitting there...staring at me....and it's kinda creeping me OUT!!!

I hope that you have a wonderful HUMP day and will come back soon to visit under the old Southern ooak tree. I love YOUR visits and comments!!

Until next time..........Hugs,
Regi

Happy September 1st!!!

Can ya believe that it's already September? I'm so excited that it is because so many AWEsome things start happening. Hopefully....like cooler weather?? I say that as a question because, well, ya just never know if we are going to have any Fall like weather here BUT I can dream and keep my fingers crossed, eh? It's also the time that brings Halloween closer...like say in 60 days. So excited about that!!

If you have been visiting under the old oak tree then you know that I have been a bit under the weather .     I mean that literally and physically because I have NEVER seen as much rain as we have been getting here. Get it...under the weather.....rain....ok ok ya get it...hehe!!!  You also know that I'm working on some of my witch series sculpts and it is going a tad bit slowly. Slow is better than not at all so I'm working with that.

Here are some WIP photos of the prop parts of two pieces I'm working on.....just so ya know that I AM working here.

Tiny little potion/ingredient bottles. It's so hard to photo small things. Well, for me it is. I know some of YOU could do better but HEY...I try!!! The labels on the bottles going from left to right are "Unicorn Horn" "Mermaid Hair" "Mummy Dust" and "Dragons Breath".  The two bottles with the chains will be hanging from the little work station and the other two will be on top of it.

Here's the lil workstation. I made a cute little collar for the hat holder to wear. (still working on the felt witch's hat) See the little hook on the side? That's where the two bottles will hang. The scrolls added a tiny bit to the piece, I think and if you look real hard you can see the tiny snake peeking out in the back.

I know...I know...another photo of the workstation but I wanted you to see what it looked like if I added the wise old owl to it. I haven't fully decided if I'm going to use him for this piece yet. He was on the book but it turned out to be wayyyy to heavy, plus I just didn't like the way the book looked. That happens sometimes!! I also got the base painted but am not finished with it. I have to get a new ink cartridge so that I can print out a really cool floor piece. The base is one that I found at the flea market...it was blue and looks rather gothic now painted black.

Here are the books for the second sculpt. The red pumpkin book will be sitting on top of the skeleton book that will have the little black book (yes yes witches have little black books too but I sooo wouldn't want to be in it...Muuuhahahaha) sitting on top of it that is right now propping up a little spell book that the little witch that will be sitting on top of all of these will be holding. WHAT a mouth full!!! In the bottom of the picture, if ya look closely, you can see the magic wands I made. Two of them...one for each witch. This sculpt will be sitting on a small wooden base that I have painted black and am waiting to print off a really cool flooring for too.

Here is my favorite prop piece...the Skellieabra!! I think he turned out rather cool myself. I had so much fun making the dripping wax. Had to search for the old glue gun and YIKES...almost did the panic dance because I was out of glue sticks. There was one in it and turned out to be just enough. Thank you my sweet muse!! Once I dripped the hot glue on it and let it dry, I simply washed it with some red paint and "POOF" instant dripping wax. Yea me!!!!

Until next time..........Hugs,
Regi